Angel Boy

Angel Boy has been our most successful digital resource for schools to date and now the animated title story is available for your iPad on iBook store.

Chris Corner’s beautiful and atmospheric drawings translate very well onto the i-pad screen enabling young people to enjoy the illustrations and narrated text either at home or in school.

The story is told in the voice of a young boy who gives a first hand account of what it feels like to be the victim of bullying behaviour. The ending is left deliberately ambiguous so that the reader can make their own decisions about what has happened or what might happen next.

You can download a free sample or purchase the book on iTunes store.

Words of War – We will remember!

Almost a year ago we were asked by Richard Taylor of Northumberland LA to create a WW1 resource that could be delivered to Northumberland Schools using their collaboration platform.

Richard was keen to emphasise the role of Northumberland people in the Great War and so we approached Northumberland Fusiliers Museum, based in Alnwick Gardens. We worked closely with Museum staff to search the archive and find a range of letters and photographs that would ‘speak’ to young people across one hundred years.

Using the letters of Private Tommy McCall, we have built a resource that tracks the course of the War from ‘call up’ to demobilisation. Six animated videos atmospherically bring archive photographs to life as Tommy movingly reads his letters written to his family, in particular his mother and sister Bella.

Six videos introduce the theme for each session, supported by a wide range of beautifully designed Interactive Whiteboard activities. Many activities explore how ‘words’ were used throughout the war, to encourage, persuade, communicate and finally, to remember.

Information Sheets for teachers offer factual support and a comprehensive Image Bank with music sound tracks enrich knowledge and understanding.  Young people are encouraged to respond to the activities in each session, to creating a wide range of responses including poetry, drama and music. These personal reflections can be used to create a performance that acknowledges the great sacrifice that so many men and women made.

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Top Apps

Just to let you know that our wonderful Story Creator software has won the prestigious BETT Award for Primary Digital Content, recognising our partnership with Collins Education.

We worked in partnership with Collins Education to build a version of our ‘read-write-read’ concept for eight of their popular storybooks as apps.

It is lovely to see Story Creator being recognised as an excellent tool, supporting reading and writing… and enabling children have loads of fun making their own versions of these enjoyable stories.

Find the apps here:

• Around the World
• The Steam Train
• It Was a Cold, Dark Night
• My Bike Ride
• In the Garden
• Playing
• The Farmer’s Lunch
• At the Dump

Loving Language!

“Useful and entertaining”  “Inspiring”  “Hilarious”

“Great fun – lovely speaker” “Superb – thoroughly inspiring”

“Very entertaining and evocative” “Inspiring and uplifting”

As author for Collins Education Progress Reader for older children, I was recently asked to give a presentation to Literacy Leaders at conferences at Reading and Halifax.

The theme for my presentation was the ‘Love of Language’. I used my Pirate Poems from ‘Pirates Chest and Other Body Parts’ to demonstrate how I ‘play’ with words. I wanted to try and encourage teachers to ignite children’s love of language…to play, have fun, enjoy and learn.

Someone once described poetry to me as ‘mouth music’. To demonstrate this wonderful concept, I offered a skipping rope to one of the teachers who volunteered to ‘skip to the rhythm of the pirate beat’ – which she did with great gusto and perfect rhythm! The audience was encouraged to join in and come up with their own skipping rhymes. I find that boys, in particular, respond well to tight structures – puzzle / pattern based writing opportunities (Haiku works well too).

Try it…

Skip to the rhythm of the pirate beat,

Skip to the rhythm on your pirate feet,

Over the waves and under the sea

To the depths where the chest full of treasure be!

We then went on to give actions to each line of Sea Legs Eleven…

Avast there all yea lubbers,  I’ve eleven legs in me Cupboard!

I’ve a dancing leg… a romancing leg,

Carved with hearts stands apart from me Anglesea leg…

The result was everyone remembered the poem… some ‘feet’!!!!

I believe our job as teachers (and authors) is to offer real and imaginary experiences that enable children to gather words that extend their vocabulary.

So let’s fill children up with wonderful words … take them places, give them objects and fabrics to hold, touch and wear… and of course play lots of mouth music!

Biscop book presentation

On Monday morning Lotti and I had the pleasure of leading a Parent Assembly, sharing the beautiful digital book created by Year 1 children of Grindon Infant School Sunderland. The demonstration of the book and Story Creator (thank you to Grace aged 6) was a proud moment in our lives.

Neil Walker, of the National Glass centre, presented all of the children with certificates  and led congratulations all round.

The project itself is an exciting and challenging one. The brief was to work with year 1 children to create a digital book based on the life of Benedict Biscop, Patron Saint of Sunderland. We visited Bede’s World in Jarrow and St Peter’s Church in Sunderland and the National Glass Centre to learn about the life and times of St Benedict Biscop, the Patron Saint of Sunderland and the history of glass. Benedict Biscop was quite an adventurer … the Michael Palin of his day …. travelling back and forth to Rome six times, resulting in the establishment of St Peter’s Monastery in Sunderland as a major centre of learning in 674 AD!

Back in the classroom we did lots of make-y things – drawings, puppet ships, willow houses, writing with feathers and ink. Once Lotti had animated the book, Steve added all the children’s characters into our Story Creator software, so that children could build their own books, telling THEIR version of the story. The result is a beautiful animated book illustrated and narrated by the children.

Thank you to Deputy Headteacher Lesley Bishop and Year 1 teachers who threw themselves into the project but mostof all to all the wonderful Year 1 children who worked with us … as for the result … well see for yourselves…

You will shortly be able to access the book bia the National Glass centre in Sunderland .. or better still come for a visit!

Working with Epinay School

It is wonderful to be supporting teacher Lynne Joice and her GCSE Art and Design students. Epinay is a Business and Enterprise School supporting pupils with a wide range of learning challenges.

Lynne is working with her students to develop sketchbook skills and they have already established a great ‘visual research’ progress board, celebrating their ideas. Last week we met up at the Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle to be inspired by the ‘Futureland Now’ exhibition, Cecil Beaton’s celebratory photographs of Queen Elizabeth II and, of course the Laing’s fabulous permanent collection.

The visit has made such an impression on the students that they are demanding to visit more exhibitions! This coming week I am going to be talk to each student about their work and hope to suggest more artists whose work they might like to explore.